


That Sweet Perfume

by poppy_plant



Series: What We Create in October 2020 [6]
Category: What We Do in the Shadows (TV)
Genre: Angst, Crying, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Flowers, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Prompt Fic, Prompt Fill, References to Depression, Roses, WWC2020, What We Create In October Challenge
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-06
Updated: 2020-10-06
Packaged: 2021-03-07 23:55:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,484
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26866276
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/poppy_plant/pseuds/poppy_plant
Summary: Guillermo left him, but traces still remain
Relationships: Guillermo de la Cruz/Nandor the Relentless
Series: What We Create in October 2020 [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1948720
Comments: 2
Kudos: 40





	That Sweet Perfume

**Author's Note:**

> Day 6: Roses

‘Sorry’ That’s all the note read. Sorry.

Nandor was grateful that the documentary crew at least had the decency to cut the cameras and leave him to wallow in his sorrow as he stood in Guillermo’s- the room under the stairs. 

He collapsed onto the bed, cold painful tears poured down his face as his body was wracked with silent sobs. Nandor bit his fist, leaving deep puncture wounds in his pallid flesh as he quietly rocked back and forth, trying to catch his breath in the black sea of emotions overcoming him. How could Guillermo leave him like this? Again?

Eventually, the tears subsided. It was just long enough for him to retreat to his crypt where he barely made it to his lounge before his body gave out beneath him. He had done everything Guillermo had asked of him: he had given him time off, he had gone to the CBS store to get him some snacks, he defended him from Nadja’s constant demandings when he was on his breaks. What more could he have done? He did everything in his power to make Guillermo happy, but it still wasn’t enough. 

Fresh tears came as Nandor found himself alone all over again.

It was dawn before he found the strength to stand. He knew deep down it was best for him to go to coffin now, but he couldn’t seem to will his limbs to work anymore. Nandor stood with a groan, lifting the heavy lid of his coffin. Maybe he read this wrong? Yes this was all just a nightmare and he would wake up and his Guillermo would be back! Or maybe Guillermo had taken another day off, he had already had one this week, but maybe he forgot and would be back in just a few hours, right where he should be. Maybe.

Nandor told himself these and other lies as he clambered into the plush security coffin. He lay awake well into the day, too scared to lift the lid to see the time, tortured by images of his Guillermo finally happy now that he was free of him, as he fell into a fitful sleep.

He woke alone. Straining, Nandor could not hear the well-known beat of Guillermo’s heart anywhere in the house. The hope he had felt just moments before all washed away leaving him with a barren sorrow. 

When he eventually willed himself to disembark from his coffin, Nandor spotted the roses in the corner. He remembered Guillermo going to pick them up for him as a small gift just a few days ago, saying he noticed that Nandor liked to keep a small vase of them on his desk, and he thought the vampire might want some for his crypt as well. What had changed?

Nandor plucked one of the flowers from the ancient vase. He held it to his nose. That scent, the aromal smell hung in the air, reminding him of Guillermo’s smell. He was so sweet, but with a spice to it that he could never place. Perhaps that had something to do with his insistence on keeping the flowers in the house recently. Was there a time before when he cared for roses? Nandor couldn’t remember how he felt before Guillermo anymore. Holding the flower lightly, he spun it slowly in hand, watching with dull eyes as it burst into flames. 

\----

How long had it been since Guillermo left? Nandor had lost track of how long he had been sitting in his crypt before he built up the will to leave for even a brief moment. When he emerged he found the house in disarray. The others had left corpses to rot and blood to harden and clot on the floor. Nandor scowled at the stench. 

He wasn’t even sure what time it was but listening, he heard faint noises coming from the piano upstairs. 

Stepping over the corpse at the bottom of the stairs with Laszlo’s name scrawled across his forehead, Nandor ducked into Guillermo’s old room, yanking the curtain shut behind him. 

Turning on the little light, Nandor began looking for anything Guillermo might have left behind. Anything to keep him company for the next hundred thousand sleepless days. The shimmering glitter portrait ripped the wound in his heart wide open again, tears wetting his beard as he threw open drawers in search of anything to remember him by. 

He almost gave up his search, collapsing on the bed in defeat when he spotted a small glass vial on the floor under the desk. 

Diving for it, Nandor reached down into the dusty corner for the little vial and pulled back triumphantly. 

Poppin the led, Nandor was overwhelmed with a sweet aroma that left him dewey eyed all over again. It smelled just as sweet and fresh as Guillermo. He carefully tightened the lid, trying to preserve it as long as possible. He wasn’t sure what this stuff was and there were no markings so if this smelly liquid ran out, there would be no more. 

With treasure clutched tightly in his fist, Nandor retreated to the safety of his crypt, away from the rancid smells coming from the rest of the house.

\----

It took ages, but eventually, the pain lessened. Life had gotten hard around the house without Guillermo and Nandor was for the first time realizing how resoundingly Guillermo had managed to integrate himself into every aspect of his life

Fucking guy. First, he buries himself deep inside the recesses of your soul, a weed growing deeper and deeper wrapping up your heart, and then the next he is ripping all of it out and leaving a raw gaping hole where he once was.

A fresh twinge of pain hit Nandor every time he looked at his desk, where a vase of dry, dead roses sat wilting away. He wanted nothing more than to throw them out the window, but he stopped himself. It wasn’t doing anyone any harm. He would have to get over it all someday. 

He was pulled from his sorrows by the doorbell ringing, then the elation of their invitation to the theatre. 

\----

Nandor didn’t deserve this. He almost couldn’t believe it when Guillermo was standing in the foyer after the mess at the theatre. Had he really become this complacent, now dependant on Guillermo to even keep himself alive?

It hadn’t even been a week since Guillermo left, and he had almost died. 

But surely this must be a dream. There was no way his Guillermo had come back to him once more. Nandor was hesitant the whole ride home, fearing this might be his last chance to ever see his once familiar again. He had to do something.

When they returned to the house, his worst fears were confirmed. Guillermo wasn’t staying. He already told them he was leaving with the cooler box when they got back to the house. 

Guillermo was quick to exit, leaving Nandor standing alone in the bloody foyer, every fiber of his being fighting to not just collapse into a heap on the floor. 

After he closed the door, a puff of rose-tinted air hit Nandor. That’s all it took.

\---

He wasn’t sure when Guillermo came back, but he was woken early in the evening by a knocking on his coffin lid, accompanied by that steady pulse he had come to love over these many years. 

Nandor carefully opened the lid, giving Guillermo time to step back before he launched himself at his former familiar, holding him tightly to his chest. Guillermo grunted as he fell to the floor, hugging Nandor just as tightly.

“I’m so sorry.” Nandor wailed, crying into Guillermo’s stomach. “I don’t know what I did to make you leave me, but I promise I will never do it again. Never ever ever.” he sobbed, his cries growing louder when Guillermo started softly stroking his hair. 

“It wasn’t you Nandor. You didn’t do anything.” Guillermo’s voice hitched, holding back his own sobs. “I’m sorry. For all of this.” 

Nandor was done. He couldn’t keep up this detached act anymore. Unable to find words, Nandor nuzzled into Guillermo’s soft belly, as he stroked the vampire's tangled hair and whispered soothing words in his ear.

The tears eventually stopped and the dull ache in his chest resided, leaving only the warmth of Guillermo’s heartbeat and the familiar roses.

“I love you, my little Guillermo.”

\---

It wasn’t long after that night that Nandor finally turned him. Putting aside all the fears that had built up over the centuries hadn’t been easy, but they became easier with Guillermo by his side.

Very little changed in the 100 years that had passed since Guillermo’s turning. But every year, Nandor still made sure that on the anniversary of his sweet Memo’s turning, he gave him a bouquet of vibrant roses, to remind him of his eternal dark love.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!


End file.
